Former president Lee Teng-hui (
The former president is scheduled to depart for Tokyo on Nov. 23 where he will be a guest speaker for Keio University, one of the nation's most prestigious schools, on the following day.
Lee is expected to deliver a one-hour speech entitled "the Spirit of Japan."
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Appearing at TSU headquarters yesterday to stump for the party's city councilor candidates, Lee told reporters he had not yet applied for a visa. He said he hoped the media would not exaggerate the importance of his trip because too many reports might hinder his plan.
"I will file my visa application when you [the reporters] are quiet," he said.
Lee's trips to Japan have always been a sensitive issue as China scorns Lee for trying to break Taiwan's diplomatic isolation during his 12 years in power. Beijing has warned Japan not to allow Lee to visit.
In April of last year, Lee was in Japan to undergo medial treatment for a heart ailment.
But his trip divided Japanese officials and his visa was not issued until the last minute after Lee mocked the nation by saying that "the guts of the Japanese government are as small as that of a mouse."
But TSU officials are optimistic about Lee's forthcoming trip later this month.
Chen Horng-chi (
Chen, the newly-appointed director for the TSU's organization department, said several Japanese congressmen and public opinion in Japan are supportive of Lee's trip.
Chen said he had questioned the Japanese Interchange Association in Taipei, whose officials said that Lee's visits to Japan always touch a political nerve.
The new TSU director noted that to express their sincerity, three Japanese students from Keio University had come to Taiwan last month to extend their invitation to the former president in person. The former president was said to be deeply moved by their sincerity.
Lee's trip has been arranged by Tokyo-based national policy adviser Alice King (金美齡).
King said last month, when she was in Taipei, that Lee would probably be allowed to visit Japan because the Japanese public is highly supportive of his visits.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
Taiwan and its Pacific ally Tuvalu on Tuesday signed two accords aimed at facilitating bilateral cooperation on labor affairs, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The governments inked two agreements in Taipei, witnessed by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and visiting Deputy Tuvaluan Prime Minister Panapasi Nelesone, MOFA said in a news release. According to MOFA, the agreements will facilitate cooperation on labor issues and allow the two sides to mutually recognize seafarers’ certificates and related training. Taiwan would also continue to collaborate with Tuvalu across various fields to promote economic prosperity as well as the well-being of their
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office has continued its investigation into allegations of forged signatures in recall efforts today by searching the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) city chapter and questioning several personnel including the chapter director, according to media reports. Among those questioned and detained were KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), chapter secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿), chapter secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文) and first district committee executive director Tseng Fan-chuan (曾繁川). Prosecutors said they would not confirm reports about who had been summoned. The investigation centers on allegations that the ongoing recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party legislators Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤)
RSS